Airport Expansion and Job Creation: What Porter Does Not Tell Us

posted by NationBuilder Support on March 29, 2014

Former GTAA Strategic Planner Tom Driedger Questions Porter's Job Creation Arguments in Letter to City CouncilTORONTO - During the Executive Committee meeting Mr Deluce and others stated that the expansion would create 2,000 jobs. But, there are things he did NOT tell us.

He stated that 1,000 jobs will be created by Porter. Some will be attributed to the new type of aircraft – pilots, inflight and maintenance. What he does NOT say is if the aircraft are based in Ottawa or Montreal there will be little benefit to Toronto. Similarly the city will not benefit from jobs created at the new destinations Porter serves. Mr Deluce also fails to point out that the same number of jobs would be created if Porter served the long haul destinations from Pearson.
Porter also claims that 1000 jobs will be created in other industries such as tourism. He implies that these jobs would only be created with the new Porter service. What he does NOT tell us is that all of the proposed routes are already served by other airlines and Pearson. Thus, few, if any, of the jobs could be solely attributed to the expansion. You may recall Jetsgo. The airline had 29 aircraft and served 41 destinations. When it folded in 2005 traffic at Pearson continued to increase. It is not the colour of the airplane that drives job creation, it is the strength of the economy, the attractiveness of the region to visit and the size and composition of the local population.
The proposal is solely about revenue and market share for a private company using a publicly owned airport.
On Tuesday, please vote “NO”
Sincerely,
Tom Driedger